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This V8-Swapped Miata Looks Like a Render, But It Is Built Not Bought for Real

Everyone has heard about the Flying Miata conversion by now, right? Well, some people just do not want to go that route, and their options are limited at that point. Fortunately, that does not mean it is impossible, and the results can be stunning, as is the case with this Mad Max-style Miata with plenty of steampunk influences.
Mazda Miata NA with Ford-302-based stroked V8 14 photos
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube video by Top Gear
Mazda Miata NA with Ford-302-based stroked V8Mazda Miata NA with Ford-302-based stroked V8Mazda Miata NA with Ford-302-based stroked V8Mazda Miata NA with Ford-302-based stroked V8Mazda Miata NA with Ford-302-based stroked V8Mazda Miata NA with Ford-302-based stroked V8Mazda Miata NA with Ford-302-based stroked V8Mazda Miata NA with Ford-302-based stroked V8Mazda Miata NA with Ford-302-based stroked V8Mazda Miata NA with Ford-302-based stroked V8Rob Dahm enjoying a car without a rotary engineMazda Miata NA with Ford-302-based stroked V8Mazda Miata NA with Ford-302-based stroked V8
This is the story behind a project car that was first revealed to the internet in 2014, but refined continuously as the years passed. It is a labor of love, but its fabricator, Tommy Reichelderfer, calls it Odd Rod. You might remember the vehicle from its previous form, as we featured it in 2019.

Since then, Tommy has finished the front canards, which are handcrafted by the vehicle's owner. It is worth mentioning that all the work on the vehicle was done by its owner with the exception of the louvers, yet he does not bother with placing "Built not bought" stickers on his ride. One can only wonder why.

As some of you already know, it comes with a carbureted Ford 302 V8 motor, which has been stroked to 331 cui, and it now boasts 470 horsepower and 460 foot-pounds of torque at the crank. That is about four times more than what an original NA Miata would offer, and the modifications that were made have also shed some weight out of a vehicle that was known for its lightness.

The builder behind this vehicle is a big fan of small cars that are lightweight and "as analog as possible." This is his description, not ours, made in an interview with Rob Dahm, who is Top Gear's tuning correspondent in the U.S., and the host of a new series on Top Gear's YouTube channel.

Rob got to drive the insane V8-swapped and stripped Miata, and we have reason to believe he loved it. Tommy has made a couple of interesting design choices with his vehicle, and one of them is fascinating, and it comes in the form of plexiglass caps for the rocker covers, which look great, and do not get full of oil if used in a pushrod engine. Yes, he made those himself, as well.

The plexiglass theme was also taken to parts of the trunk, which lets you see through it and watch the axles and the drive shafts as they move. Without a GoPro, nobody can watch them from the trunk, but that is not the point, is it?

In a way, it is the point, if you just take the time to let all the details sink in. The fenders, for example, are bolted on the body, not welded, and all the metal that is visible has been through Tommy's hands in one way or another. As he noted, he does not have the "luxury" of using paint or filler to cover up any imperfections.

Regardless, this polarizing one-off is proof that some project cars are like a work of art, and they get better and better as the years go by, especially if their owner has a vision for them. And no, fitting a set of wheels, an off-the-shelf suspension, and a wrap to a volume car is not a "build," nor is it a project car. Tommy's Odd Rod is a build, regardless if anyone likes it or not.

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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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